Friday, July 03, 2015

While there are still many new 2015 releases in my "inbox" that I'm yet to thoroughly digest, or even get to at all (notably some Intakt releases), plus the fact that I'm just starting to sort through to advance copies of music about to be released (from Pi, NoBusiness, Clean Feed and RogueArt, among others), I thought it might be worhtwhile to stop and take a look at the records that have made the strongest impressions from January through June. Below is a list of 30 or so of my fave new jazz (in all its many, various guises) albums released in 2015 thus far. Reissues or music that has otherwise been previously available is not included.

Rudresh Mahanthappa: Bird Calls (ACT)

Kirk Knuffke: Arms and Hands (Royal Potato Family)

Max Johnson Trio: Something Familiar (Fresh Sound New Talent)

Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth: Epicenter (Clean Feed)

Detail: First Detail (Rune Grammofon)

Henry Threadgill Zooid: In For a Penny, In For a Pound (Pi Recordings)

Gebhard Ullman's Basement Reearch: Hat and Shoes (Between the Lines)

Mikko Innanen with William Parker and Andrew Cyrille: Song For a New Decade (TUM Records)

Gard Nilssen's Acoustic Unity: Firehouse (Clean Feed)

Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook-Up:After All Is Said (482 Music)

Team Hegdal: Vol. 3 (Particular Recordings)

Mario Pavone: Blue Dialect (Clean Feed)

Rich Halley 4: Creating Structure (Pine Eagle Records)

Devin Grey and RelativE ResonancE: RelativE ResonancE (Skirl)

Ben Goldberg: Orphic Machine (Royal Potato Family)

Myra Melford: Snowy Egret (Enja)

Jack DeJohnette Made In Chicago: Made In Chicago - Live at the Chicago Jazz Festival (ECM)

Thursday, June 11, 2015

No single musician changed the way I hear, approach, perceive, feel, appreciate and think about music the way Ornette Coleman did. His music was... is mind expanding and profoundly touching. It can be relentless in its conviction, but also communal in its approach. Inclusive, even. "Friends and neighbors, that's where its at." It can be deceptively complex yet also alluringly simple, and vice versa. It is all of that, and so much more. And it has a democratic principle at its very core.

This democratic principle to music making has been a cornerstone for me for many years. It is one I see mirrored in so much of my fave music, both in jazz and beyond. Even in rock music, such as in the set up and approach of groups like Gang of Four (particularly the early version) and the Minutemen. I've written about this topic previously (e.g. ENO #1), and will likely return to it again.

Today, I'm feeling too sad to do much writing at all. The news of Ornette Coleman's death -- although I like many others had heard rumors his health had been poor -- has devastated me. Instead, I'll leave you with some words by the late, great Robert Palmer, who wrote about Coleman as well as any I've read.

"The Ornette Coleman quartet that debuted in New York at the old Five Spot, in the fall of 1959, approached the void and, at times, tumbled into it. The listeners that first night included Leonard Bernstein, Gunther Schuller, Neshui and Ahmet Ertegun, John Hammond, and almost every musician in town. Some heard formlessness and chaos, others a sound that would radically alter the course of jazz and inform the work of a generation of musicians to come.

"In the music we play,'" Ornette said, "no one player has the lead. Anyone can come out with it at any time."

This new approach to group playing looked ahead with its polyrhythms, geared to exploration rather than to predetermined patterns, and its melodies that proceeded through a complex of unstated modulations rather than riding on a cushion of traditional chord progression. But the music also looked back through the jazz tradition with its collective improvisation and its personal, speechlike approach to intonation and phrasing (...)" -- from "Ornette Coleman and the Circle with a Hole in the Middle," reprinted in Blues & Chaos: The Music Writing of Robert Palmer (Scribner, New York, 2009)

Wednesday, June 03, 2015

Records reviewed for Klassekampen's weekly music supplement Musikkmagasinet from October through December 2014, plus January through April 2015 (As per usual, this list does not include live reviews, which during this period included Sheila Jordan and Kris Davis Trio, nor articles such as my piece on Mostly Other People Do the Killings Kind of Blue album/project). If you're the artist, the label, distributor, or in any other way connected to the releases and artists listed here and would like to see the relevant review/piece, send me an e-mail with a request to perfectsounds.chrismonsen[at]gmail.com or monsen.christopher[at]gmail.com.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Below you'll find my top 30 list of fave jazz albums of 2014, with additional comments for the top 3. I'll add that there were more jazz records released in 2014 than these that I have enjoyed and would recommend. Those can be found or will eventually be added to the full 2014 favorites list. At any rate, this is a list of 30 new jazz albums I have listened to and enjoyed so far in 2014, plus three reissues.

New albums:

1. Moskus: Mestertyven (Hubro): Anja Lauvdal (piano), Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson (bass) and Hans Hulbækmo (drums) have taken a major step towards a more distinctive expression since their more structured debut (Salemsykkel, 2012), and grown into a rather unique piano trio. Mestertyven does admittedly have nods to jazz history -- traces of Thelonious Monk and Paul Bley Trio pop up here and there -- but it is chock full of personality, bubbling with ideas and eruptive whims. Fresh, quirky, experimental, and simultaneously alluring and even funny.

2. Jemeel Moondoc: The Zookeeper's House (Relative Pitch Records): Jemeel Moondoc has been relatively active in recent years, but on this release, he emerged with the best band he's lead in a long time, with contributions from Matthew Shipp (piano), Steve Swell (trombone), Hilliard Greene (bass), Newman Taylor Baker (drums) and the late trumpeter Roy Campbell. Performing alternately as a trio, quartet and quintet, they stir up a riveting and delightful mix of rough-hewn avant-blues and hard-swinging free-bop, reminiscent of the music Moondoc became known for in his time with Muntu and in varous projects throughout the 80's, yet additionally colored by his artistic adventures from then up until now.

3. Max Johnson Trio: The Invisible Trio (Fresh Sound New Talent): Bassist/composer Max Johnson was involved as a leader or co-leader in three very interesting and distinctive albums in what seemed like something of a break-out year. The Invisible Trio was the first of to emerge of these releases, and remained a firm favorite throughout the year. A uniquely sounding trio with Johnson plus Kirk Knuffke on cornet and Ziv Ravitz on drums, they expertly glide, sprint, and jump through intriguing and subtly shape-shifting patterns.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

July was more or less a month free of writing, seing as Klassekampen's music supplement takes a break throughout that month. I did, however, write some reviews for Jazznytt, Norway's premier jazz monthly, which was relaunched this September.

Several of the records reviewed during these months had been out for a while when my write-ups hit the streets, the exception being my review of the latest Spoon which was published the week the album came out, as well as this week's review of two recent Wadada Leo Smith albums, both of which were released this September.

Speaking of the Leo Smith discs, they are both very good albums that share some common themes: change, particularly over long periods of time, and open spaces. On the brilliant The Great Lakes Suites, Leo Smith hooks up with Henry Threadgill on saxophone and flutes and drummer Jack DeJohnette, in addition to long-time partner John Lindberg on bass. This is stunning, expansive music that is both calm, restrained and patient, yet in bursts volatile and throbbing. This is in line with Smith's vision of the lakes and their importance to the surrounding areas: huge, flat surfaces that at a glance seem peaceful, but with pockets of bustling activity, they're scenes for both recreation as well as commerse and growth. Here, Threadgill plays some of his most touching saxophone lines in years, pensive and careful yet firm and assertive, particularly on the majestic "Lake Huron", equaled by Wadada's longing and piercing trumpet tones, while Lindberg and DeJohnette create supportive frameworks, quietly rumbling and suspensefully bubbling. It is a lovely album.

Red Hill was recorded with a slightly younger generation of musicians: Jamie Saft on keys, Joe Morris – perhaps best known as a guitarist – on bass, and Balasz Pandi on drums. It contains three compositions named after rock formations, and one that shares its name with the Roman diety Janus, a symbol for change, among other things. Rock too, of course, has been formed over long periods of time. With this in mind, the tunes too take time to develop, yet are comparatively busier once they get going. It is intriguing and thrilling music, and in comparison to Great Lakes..., it is equaly cerebral music, yet not quite as emotionally stirring.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

With the summer vacation well and truly over, and the first reviews of the fall season already published this week, here is a belated overview of records reviewed from April through June, 2014. Additional notes on some notable releases I for one reason or another have not covered previously will be posted at some point later in the week. The first quarter overview can be accessed here. A list of my fave recordings from January to July can be found here.

Monday, August 04, 2014

Late in the evening on July 11, while vacationing on the western coast of Norway, I logged on to the web via my cell phone for one of the two daily web news updates I hade allowed myself. It didn't take many page views before I read that Charlie Haden had died. Suffice to say, I was deeply saddened. Few pieces of music has moved, shaped and formed me as much as the music Haden made with Ornette Coleman's early quartet, and although I wasn't as enthusiastiv about many of his later collaborations, almost everything he did seemed heartfelt and genuine, and his playing was always a joy to hear. I was lucky enough to see Haden with Coleman and drummer Billy Higgins at Battery park during a day of celebration of Ornette's muci in Battery Park, Manhattan, May 1st 2000.

I was contacted late that July night by Norwegian daily Dagbladet, asking for a comment on Haden and his music. Here's a translated (and slightly edited) version of what I wrote:

-[Charlie Haden]wasa giant,a brilliantanddistinctivemusician, andfrom what I've heard by peoplewho have been luckyenough to havemethim, a humbleandextremelyfriendly man.

-As aleadingmember ofOrnetteColeman'squartetin the late50s andearly60s, he was deeplyinvolvedin the development ofjazzas an expression. GivenColeman'sdemocraticprinciple thatencouragedandallowedhisfellow musicians to be more involved and gave them inceased musicalfreedom,Hadenbecamemorethanjust asidemaninthe quartet, writesMonsen.

About Perfect Sounds

Perfect Sounds is an outlet for my thoughts, big and small, and comments on music and other aspects of culture. I also post listening notes, or short drafts, if not full reviews of albums, songs and concerts worthy of note or in other ways of general interest. I will also post links to or notes on my published writing and criticism.